This is a difficult time for democracy, and autocratic leaders are on the rise. I refer, of course, to shareholder democracy and to the increasingly bold attempts of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, when they go public, to prevent investors from having a say in the running of their company. The founders of Snap, the owner of the messaging service Snapchat are brazenly selling second-class shares that give investors […]
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian police identified a senior official in the North Korean embassy on Wednesday as a suspect in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, and said another was linked to North Korea’s state airline. Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said both suspects are still in Malaysia and have been called in for questioning. He said North Korean diplomat held the rank of second secretary at the […]
This much we can tell you for sure: the still-untitled Han Solo spin-off movie will not be called “Red Cup.” That’s the working title, a nod to the fact that George Lucas named Solo’s character for the plastic drinks brand. (True story.) But what about the actual title for the standalone film, which as of Tuesday is scheduled for May 25, 2018? Thus far Lucasfilm has it […]
22 Feb 2017, Doha, Qatar The Commercial Bank (P.S.Q.C.) (“the Bank”), its subsidiaries and associates (“Group”) announced today its financial results for the full year ended 31 December 2016. The Group reported a net profit of QAR 501.4 million as compared to QAR 1,434 million for the same period in 2015, a decrease of 65%. The Bank reported a net profit of QAR 683 million (2015- QAR […]
By David Brunnstrom | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by telephone with China’s top diplomat on Tuesday and affirmed the importance of a constructive U.S.-China relationship, and the two agreed on the need to address the threat posed by North Korea, the State Department said. Tillerson and Yang Jiechi, China’s state councillor who outranks the foreign minister, also discussed economics and trade as […]
“If someone is arrested for throwing a rock, they get a two-year sentence,” the father, Yusri al-Sharif, said, according to the news site Ynet. “In this case, a soldier murdered and got a year and a half.” Continue reading the main story “My son is not an animal,” he said. But Israeli leaders, still shocked that an Israeli soldier was convicted in January in a killing in […]
Rising angst over the outcome of France’s presidential election sent the premium investors are demanding to own French debt instead of German bonds to a new post-eurozone crisis high. The gap between the yield on 10-year French debt and German equivalent bonds exceeded 0.81 percentage points for the first time since August 2012, as a fresh poll showing far right candidate Marine Le Pen is on course […]
Creditors of Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittefaq Steel Products, the country’s largest private sector steel manufacturer, have provisionally agreed to a 6.2 billion riyals ($1.7 billion) debt restructuring, banking sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The terms of the deal have still not been finalised but banks have reached an agreement in principle to give the company a two year window in which it would only pay interest on […]
At the start of January, when the Mexican Central Bank spent $2 billion to defend its currency in a rare intervention in the spot market, and which lasted just a few hours before the selling resumed, Goldman analyst Albert Ramos had some advice for Banxico: don’t use reserves to defend the Peso as Mexico would have greater need for them elsewhere. : Instead, Goldman’s advice was to […]
U.S. stocks rose to fresh record highs on Tuesday, boosted by strong earnings reports from Wal-Mart and Home Depot and continued optimism about the economic agenda of President Donald Trump. Wal-Mart’s (WMT.N) shares were the top gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rising 3 percent after the world’s largest retailer reported higher-than-expected U.S. sales. Home Depot (HD.N) shares gained 1.4 percent after the home improvement retailer […]
Verizon has announced that it will buy Yahoo’s core business after all, but at a $350 million discount since the internet company had two massive cyberattacks. The Verizon-Yahoo deal has been in the cards for a good while now and the companies have been negotiating the terms of the agreement. After two massive Yahoo data breaches came to light last year, however, the deal was not that […]
Photo Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi on trial in Zintan, Libya, in 2014. Credit Reuters GENEVA — Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, the son of Libya’s ousted dictator, should be turned over to the International Criminal Court to be tried on war crimes charges, the United Nations said on Tuesday, adding that he did not get a fair trial in Libya. But the question is, who will hand him over? A […]
The International Monetary Fund’s description of Greek debt as potentially explosive has left negotiators in Brussels struggling to bridge the differences between Athens and its creditors before time runs out to avert default. With creditors unwilling to release the next tranche of bailout money needed to keep the country afloat, Greece is facing €7bn of debt redemptions in July that it cannot afford. Investors appear to have […]
By Tom Perry and John Davison | BEIRUT BEIRUT The U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance has crossed into Deir al-Zor province for the first time as part of an offensive against Islamic State, a Kurdish military source said on Tuesday. The advance into the province, most of which is under the control of the ultra-hardline group, is part of an operation to encircle and ultimately capture […]
ROME Michele Emiliano, the leftist president of the southern region of Puglia, said on Tuesday he would challenge former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for the leadership of Italy’s ruling Democratic Party (PD), which faces a damaging split. Emiliano, 57, made the announcement at a meeting of the PD’s executive where he launched a stinging attack on Renzi, who resigned as party leader on Sunday to pave the […]
Whatever route the government chooses for Brexit it will need to cooperate with other countries, especially our EU neighbours, to combat tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering. Yet the signs are not very good as the government seems to have chosen non-cooperation. It has snubbed the EU inquiry into the Panama Papers. Last year, a leak of 11.5m documents and 2.6 terabytes of information from the […]
Restaurant Brands International Inc (QSR.TO), owner of the Burger King and Tim Hortons fast-food chains, said on Tuesday it would acquire Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLKI.O) for $1.8 billion in cash. The deal is a bet by Oakville, Ontario-based Restaurant Brands that it can use its international reach to introduce Popeyes’ Louisiana-style fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits to more diners globally. Popeyes shareholders will get $79.00 for each […]
Yahoo agreed to take a $350m cut on the original $4.8bn sale of its core business to Verizon, becoming one of the first major US companies to revise deal terms because of a cyber attack. Verizon, the US telecoms company, will now pay the California-based internet company $4.5bn, Yahoo said on Tuesday, ending months of uncertainty about the future of the deal first agreed in July last year. […]
Photo A session at the International Conference in Support of Palestinian Intifada in Tehran on Tuesday, where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, urged renewal of the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, against Israel. Credit Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press TEHRAN — Everything was in place on Tuesday for a gala celebration at Iran’s annual conference in support of Palestine. Awaiting the hundreds of guests was a table piled high […]
By Robin Emmott | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS U.S. President Donald Trump sent top U.S. officials to Europe with a familiar warning from Washington that allies must spend more on defence, this time with the ultimatum “or else”. But Europeans have tried to deflect the threats with the argument that a commitment to security is not just about spending targets, which diplomats said that U.S. officials did not challenge, […]
Ann Ravel on Sunday fulfilled her promise to quit the Federal Election Commission by May. In doing so, Ravel — who directed her resignation letter at President Donald Trump and including unsolicited advice for new president — leaves behind an agency the outspoken Democratic commissioner says she at once considers “essential” to American democracy and as useful, in its current state, as “men’s nipples.” But Ravel tells […]
BEIRUT: France’s far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen sparked controversy Tuesday during her brief visit to Lebanon when she refused to wear a headscarf to meet the country’s top Sunni Muslim cleric. On her last day in the small Mediterranean country, Le Pen arrived at Sheikh Abdellatif Deryan’s office in Beirut and was offered a white shawl to cover her blonde hair. The National Front candidate promptly […]
WASHINGTON Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Mexico this week along with the Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to discuss issues including border security with the southern neighbor amid frayed relations under new U.S. President Donald Trump. Tillerson and Kelly will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and other top Mexican officials during the two-day visit on Wednesday and Thursday, the State Department said in […]
Texas Monthly Editor-in-Chief Tim Taliaferro on Tuesday backed away from comments made during an interview with Columbia Journalism Review that indicated the magazine was retreating from political and longform journalism. In a note published on Texas Monthly, Taliaferro said that he “unfortunately gave the CJR the wrong impression” when he told the journalism review that “Texans don’t care about politics.” “Let me first say that I know […]
